J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

The three castle studies on this page are inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation. As identified by the geographer and Turner researcher Roland Courtot, they offer variant views of the Château de Seyssuel, a twelfth-century fortified castle on the left bank of the Rhône.1 Turner observed this landmark from his low vantage point on the river as he made the two-day boat journey from Lyon to Avignon. Each of the studies frames the castle from a different angle: the uppermost sketch is from upstream, with Turner looking south-east; the middle sketch offers a comparative profile from face-on; and the bottom sketch captures the view from downstream, as the artist looked back on his route. Additional studies of Seyssuel appear on folios 4 verso and 5 verso (D20997, D20999).

With the boat in continuous motion following the Rhône’s natural trajectory, Turner exploited the sketching opportunities afforded by a landscape unfolding before his eyes. Courtot saw his sketching practice as analogous to how one would use a camera today, a technique illustrated by the triptych effect on this page.2 Turner was especially drawn to striking architectural features such as a distant village, a hilltop castle or an approaching bridge. A recurring feature of the sketchbook, these ‘tracking shots’ can be seen intermittently between folios 12 verso and 33 verso (D21013, D21029, D21037, D21041, D21052–D21053; Turner Bequest CCXXX 32 and 32a).

Citing the present work, Cecilia Powell has commented on Turner’s fondness for castles. See under folio 3 verso (D20995) for a summary of her analysis.